Timeline for the Dungeon Jam:

The standard dungeon crawler mechanics were already in place at the start of the project, which has been encouraged by the jam host. This means specifically grid-based movement, inventory system and a simple grid-based monster-AI. For this I used my already heavily modified and customized version of the "Dungeon Crawler Toolkit" for Unreal. Dialogue system, save system and UI were taken from my project "Dawn of the Ashen Queen". 2D-Art has been created by Midjourney.

I started the project on Saturday afternoon the first day of the jam. I integrated the code I already have in the new project, which took me 2 days and customized it so it would work with the new project. For the next 3 days I was building the dungeon right in Unreal and stuffing it with props. I was also making traps, riddles, coded the level scripting, created the monsters and prepared the interaction place holders for the dialogue system. On day 5 I coded the "theme twist switch-off" and did a lot of bug-fixing and cleaning up so everything actually works and you could go from start to finish.

On day 6 I created all the 2D art with Midjourney. I also wrote the dialogue, pop-up banters, readables and the cutscene texts. Day 7 (last day) was supposed to be used for balancing the gameplay and implementing items/spells, but I had to use it to make the game actually work. I spend the last 14 hours through the night cooking and packaging the build, fixing errors and crashes which would happen during this process. I also had to spend a lot of time shrinking the final build from a crazy 16 GB to 700 mb (itch.io limit is 1 GB). I managed to get a workable build about 45 mins before the deadline. :)

Used Assets:

Dungeon wall, ceiling, floor textures: Quixel Megascans

Nature (trees, grass, plants, rocks, cliffs etc.): Quixel Megascans

Table, chair, stool, barrel, tableware, food, glass weapons/armor, weapon rack: "Medieval Village Pack" by Meshingun Studio

Bookshelf, papers/scrolls, cabinets, chair/tables, writing stuff, bones, statue, altar, wall deco: "Gothic Interior Pack" by Meshingun Studio

Runestone, altar, candles: "Fantasy Dungeon 2 (ossuary)" pack by SilverTm

Fireball-launchers: "Gothic statues" by DmitriyDryzhak

Treasure: "Ancient Treasures" by Dekogon Studios

Soldier: "Knight" by Mihail Kamenker Black

Wraith: "Darkness elemental" by SAN 3D Art

Boss Wraith: "RipperGhost" by Andryuha1981